KR19990082066A - Retrofit lighting system for non-invasive interaction with host devices - Google Patents

Abstract

The retrofit EL lighting system 100 for use in the host device 104 is provided with a lighting effect in response to a lamp power signal provided from the host system 104 and used to power the lamp 108 of the host device 104. And the EL lamp system 108 has a plurality of EL lamp cells, and the sequential circuit 106 of the EL lamp system 108 causes the EL lamp cells to collectively illuminate in an order corresponding to the EL lamp drive signal. An EL lamp driving signal is provided to independently control each of the EL lamp cells, and the microcontroller 406 controls the frequency, amplitude, and duty cycle to the EL lamp 108, and by changing the frequency, the microcontroller 406. The microcontroller 406 changes the lighting contrast by changing the contrast and the chromaticity, the amplitude, and the data signal line to select which EL lamp 108 to illuminate. Supplied from a microcontroller 406 to generate a dynamic display, and the signal conditioning circuit 102 non-invasively samples the lamp power signal provided from the host system 104, and accordingly outputs the drive signal to the EL lamp 108. It is characterized by providing.

Description

Retrofit lighting system for non-invasive interaction with host devices

Many devices, such as vending machines and gaming devices, light one or more light bulbs on the outside of the device, depending on the internal state of the device. For example, a slot machine illuminates various incandescent lamps to illuminate a "payment line" depending on the number of coins inserted into the device.

However, incandescent lamps consume a lot of power. Therefore, since the EL (Electroluminescent) indicator consumes less power, it may be required to be replaced by an incandescent lamp having the EL indicator. An EL lamp is a light source comprising a special phosphor or a combination of phosphors that emit cold light when applied to an electric field. More particularly, it may be desirable to change the method of irradiating light in accordance with the internal state of the device. For example, the way in which light is irradiated may be changed to attract people to the device or to provide useful information.

Typically, the majority of the circuitry for controlling the lighting system of the device is not suitable for powering low power light sources. In addition, circuitry that controls how light is radiated is usually present inside the device. As a result, changing the lighting system is expensive. This is especially true when the device is a game device, especially since the device is subjected to costly testing and verification after changes have been made to the internal circuitry of the game device.

In the past, EL lamps required high voltage electricity to operate. Because of this, bulky power supplies, inverters and / or other electrical circuits and batteries (for wireless operation) are needed to provide adequate power for the lamp to shine. Power supplies are usually bulkier than lamps.

Typical EL lamps are powered by a high voltage (much larger than 10V) power supply. These power supplies are often AC (alternating current) power supplies. Some ELs are powered directly from standard home currents (typically 120 VAC). For batteries rather than for home current operation, usually an inverter or other circuitry is needed to convert and / or increase the DC electricity of the battery to high voltage AC electricity.

The EL lamp display circuit includes a counter, an audio sequencer and a memory for defining a segment of the EL display to be irradiated. Control of the output display in such a system is limited by the limited information manipulation capabilities of the counter and memory. Since a fixed AC voltage wave generator drives the display and the output is further limited by dynamic control of chromaticity and intensity, output display is not possible.

Some portions disclosed herein contain elements that are subject to copyright. The copyright owner has no objection to the copying of a patent document or patent disclosure appearing in a patent file or record of a patent trademark office by anyone, and only the patent rights are owned.

The present invention relates to a lighting system that interacts with a host device, such as a game device. In particular, the present invention relates to an retrofit lighting system which illuminates in a sequence corresponding to a status indication sampled from a host device and in particular interacts with the host device non-invasively.

1 is a block diagram showing a retrofit lighting system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a view showing a game device using the retrofit lighting system 100 shown in FIG.

3 is a view showing a method of interfacing a game device and a retrofit lighting system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a top level schematic diagram showing an embodiment of a circuit for controlling one of the EL lamp systems of the retrofit lighting system 108 of FIG.

5 is a schematic diagram showing in more detail the drive signal generator of the schematic diagram of FIG. 4;

6 is a schematic diagram illustrating the switching circuit of FIG. 4 in more detail;

7 is a schematic diagram illustrating in more detail the microcontroller (and associated glue logic) of FIG. 4;

8 is a graph illustrating a spike phenomenon that may occur when a switching circuit is switched in a first sequence;

9 is a graph showing a second switching sequence employing a load capacitor to handle a spiking phenomenon,

10 is a high level conceptual block diagram of an EL controller according to another embodiment of the present invention;

11 is a detailed block diagram of an EL controller according to the embodiment of FIG. 10;

12A to 12D show EL panel drive signals and microcontroller pulse signals;

13 is a block diagram of an EL controller according to another embodiment;

14 is a detailed block diagram of a high voltage driver of the EL controller of FIG. 13;

15 is a timing diagram illustrating an exemplary timing sequence in the EL controller of FIG. 13;

16 is a block diagram of an EL panel multiplexing circuit, and

17 is a block diagram of another embodiment of an EL panel controller device.

The present invention is a retrofit lighting system used in a host device for providing a lighting effect according to a lamp power signal used in or provided from a power lamp of the host device. The EL lamp system has a plurality of EL lamp cells. The sequencing circuit provides an EL lamp driving signal for independently controlling each EL lamp cell of the EL lamp system so that the EL lamp cells are collectively illuminated in a sequence according to the EL lamp driving signal. In particular, the sequencing circuit includes a control device connected to a power supply circuit for providing a drive signal, said drive signal being of a suitable magnitude and frequency for driving the EL display element. The selection circuit receives a plurality of signals from the microcontroller and drive signals from the power supply circuit. The selection circuit selectively transmits a drive signal to each of the electric light emitting display elements based on the signal received from the microcontroller. By this arrangement, the microcontroller turns the display elements in the sequence on or off, thereby producing a dynamic display. The signal adjustment circuit non-invasively samples the lamp power signal provided from the host system and thus provides the EL lamp drive signal.

The circuit may include a load capacitor that can be selectively switched by a controller to indicate the capacitive load to the drive signal generator in addition to the capacitive load indicated by the element of the EL panel. Load capacitors not only handle the "spiking" phenomenon associated with switching drive signals from one device to another, but also compensate for different capacitive loads due to different sized devices being driven at different points in the sequence. You can also provide

1 shows a retrofit EL lighting system 100 according to an embodiment of the invention in block form. The EL lighting system consumes less power than incandescent lamps of host devices used in other ways. Instead, even if an incandescent lamp is used, the EL lighting system 100 can provide additional lighting effects with minimal additional power. By retrofitting the device to the retrofit EL lighting system 100, it is very easy to modify the way the light is illuminated in accordance with the internal state of the device.

In the embodiment shown in the block form of FIG. 1, the system 100 includes three EL panels 108a, 108b, 108c (hereinafter referred to as "108"). Each EL lamp panel 108 includes an independently driveable EL lamp cell. The panel is driven by the electrical control module 101. Each panel is driven by separate sequencing subcircuits seq 1, seq2, seq3 of the electrical control module 10 and is included in the sequential circuit 106. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, if the gaming device 104 is a slot machine, the lamp panels 108a, 108b, 108c may be “belly glass” 156, “reel glass” of the slot machine 104. It is appropriate to be located on "154" and "top glass" 152. An additional area of the slot machine 104, shown at 158 in FIG. 2, may be provided in the EL panel to draw attention to the "banknote collector" function of the slot machine 104.

Each lamp of the EL panel is turned on when an AC drive current or a pulsed DC current is provided to the lamp. Whereas the intensity of the lamp varies with the frequency and magnitude of the lamp drive current. The chromaticity of the lamp changes with the frequency of the driving current.

3 illustrates a method in which the retrofit lighting system 100 interfaces with the game device 104 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The electrical control module 101 includes a connector 301 for connecting (via the standard plug 303) with an AC power supply of standard 120V, 60Hz. In Fig. 3, the single state control signal is located on the area 158 of the slot machine 104 and is obtained from the game device 104 for controlling the EL panel 108a. More specifically, the signals generated by game device 104 indicate the internal state of game device 104, and these state indication signals are usually noninvasively sampled by circuitry in electrical control module 101. That is, the state indication signal is usually sampled without affecting the internal state of the game device 104.

For example, a power signal provided from game device 104 to power an external incandescent lamp can be used as a status indicator signal. The power signal can be sampled by tapping with the power signal when provided to the incandescent lamp. An example of the case where a power signal provided by the game device 104 to the "coin insertion ramp" 302 is sampled and provided to the electrical control module 101 via the connector 305 is shown in FIG. 3. In another embodiment, the device's original bulb may be displaced in situ, and a light-sensor is employed to determine when the bulb is irradiated. The problem with this is that the original bulb may burn out. In another embodiment, the coil may be provided to wind a wire that provides a power signal to the bulb, and the magnetic field is generated by the current in the wire measured by the coil and used as a status indicator signal.

In each case the goal is to non-invasively sample the power signal to the bulb (alternatively, but not optimal, the status indicator signal may be provided directly from other circuitry or microcontroller of game device 104).

In accordance with the status indication signal provided from the game device 104, the electrical control module 101 supplies a lamp panel drive signal for driving one of the EL lamp panels (in this case, the EL panel 108a shown in FIG. 1). Occurs. As shown in Fig. 3, the lamp panel drive signal is provided from the electrical control module 101 to the EL lamp panel 108a via the interconnect cable 309. Lamp panels are commercially available from MKS, Bridgeton, NJ.

EL lamps appear in various forms in addition to EL panels such as filaments or EL lamp threads. The lighting system may include any of these EL lamp forms. The EL panel is a strip of EL lamps on two sheets of paper. The EL panel is preferably made by selective deposition of the phosphor composite and selective deposition of the conductive back electrode (e.g., a polymer containing high loading silver particles). Multiple sections of the phosphor-electrode array can be deposited on the panel to form a pattern. Each section is connected to a power supply and can be turned on and off independently for ease of operation. Although this embodiment has been described with reference to the EL panel, single or multiple EL lamp filaments can be easily replaced in the EL panel.

A detailed embodiment of the electrical control module 101 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 7. 4 is a top-level schematic diagram illustrating a more detailed embodiment of the electrical control module 101 than shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 4, the electrical control module 101 is for causing selective irradiation of the EL lamp panel cells in a dynamic sequence in the region 158 of the slot machine 104. As shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, the host device interface circuit 102 receives a status indicator signal (eg, a sample of a power signal used to power an incandescent lamp) from the game device 104, and the microcontroller 406. Set the sampled signal conditions as appropriate to the input to (e.g., by shifting the level of the sampled signal). The detailed transformation depends on the particular game device 104 and, in particular, on the level of the sampled signal.

The set status indicator signal is provided to the microcontroller 406 through the optical separator 404 or 405. The optical splitter 404 or 405 separates the electrical control module 101 from the game device 104 such that the circuitry inside the game device 104 is affected by failures that may appear in the electrical control module 101 (eg, Protection, such as the result of a shock generated by the release of static electricity from the player of the game device 104. If the electrical control module 101 is directly connected to the internal electricity of the game device 104, any electrostatic discharge to the electrical control module 101 will be directly connected to the game device 104, confounding this process and causing the "harper (hopper) "ends with a dump.

The drive signal generator 408 powered by the power supply 410 receives a sinusoidal drive signal via the EL driver circuit 412 and finally through the pin of the connector 416 to drive the EL cell. to provide. As depicted in U.S. Patent Application No. 08 / 591,014, incorporated by reference above, the microcontroller 406 provides an EL driver circuit in accordance with a set status indication signal to cause the switching circuit to selectively provide a drive signal to the EL cell. Selectively enable the switching circuit in 412 (the switching circuit is described below with reference to FIG. 6). As a result, the EL cells are irradiated in a dynamic sequence. The microcontroller 406 is connected to the inverter 408 via the ENABLE-H signal. By asserting the ENABLE-H signal, the microcontroller 406 can disable the drive signal generator 408 by providing a drive signal.

A detailed drive signal generator 408 according to one embodiment of the invention is shown in more detail in FIG. 5. Inverter 502 provides a sinusoidal drive signal. Capacitors C6 and C6A provide a load capacitance that limits the maximum output voltage from inverter 502.

The low voltage monitor 504 monitors the amplitude of the sinusoidal drive signal provided from the inverter 502. In particular, direct and / or partial short circuits are improved when the EL lamp / cell fails. This can overload the inverter 502 in order to supply enough current to drive a shorted EL cell. The low voltage monitor 504 is a voltage comparison circuit. This converts the sinusoidal output of the inverter 502 to a DC voltage proportional to the output voltage of the inverter 502. When the EL cell shortage and the inverter 502 output fall below the value set by the resistors R11, R12, and R13, the output of the low voltage comparator 504 LVOLT-H becomes clear. The LVOLT-H output is optically coupled to the microcontroller 406. The microcontroller 406 is programmed to monitor the LVOLT-H signal and deactivates the inverter 502 upon detecting that the LVOLT-H signal is claimed. This is added through the inverter 502 and prevents excessive current from permanently damaging the inverter 502.

The digital detector 506 may be provided to detect when the drive signal provided from the inverter 502 crosses the zero voltage amplitude. When a zero crossing is detected, the numeric detector 506 provides a ZEROX-E control signal to the RB1 input of the microcontroller 406 (FIG. 4). Only when the drive signal provided from the inverter 408 has zero voltage amplitude, the microcontroller switches the switching circuit in the EL driver circuit 412 to start providing the drive signal through the connector 416. In this way, the EL cell can be protected from a sharp increase in the drive signal input (e.g., spike). In addition to potentially causing a visible "flash", the drive signal spikes can cause the capacitance in the EL cells to fail, making the EL cells inoperable.

A detailed embodiment portion of the EL driver circuit 412 will be described with reference to FIG. In particular, the EL driving signal generated by the driving signal generator 408 is provided to the AC HOT input of the EL driver circuit 412. Each of the plurality of switching circuits 620a through 620i includes a switch control input (RC0 through RC7 and RB7 respectively) and a drive signal output (DRC0 through DRC7 and DRB7 respectively). Each of the switching circuits 602a to 602i is connected to receive an AC HOT input for receiving an EL driving signal generated by the driving signal generator 408. The switching circuits 602a-602i include four rectifying diodes and one bipolar junction transistor.

Depending on the program being executed by the microcontroller, the microcontroller may have several of the switch control outputs RC0 to RC7 and RB7 connected to each of the switch control outputs RC0 to RC7 and RB7 of each of the switching circuits 602a to 602i. Indicates. Thus, if a switch control input of a particular switching circuit appears, the switching circuit passes the drive signal from the AC HOT to the output of the switching circuit. Referring back to FIG. 4, each of the switching circuits 602a-602i is a separate one of the EL cells of the " bank collector " EL panel located in the region 158 of the game device 104 (FIG. 2) and the connector 4016. You can see the connection through.

Referring now to FIG. 6, supplemental switching circuits 604a and 604b are described in detail. The supplementary switching circuits 604a and 604b are connected to a switching signal provided from the switch control outputs RB5 and RB6 of the microcontroller 406 to switch each of the control inputs RB5 and RB6 of each of the supplementary switching circuits 604a and 604b. Yes. In particular, the supplemental switching circuits 604a and 604b pass a drive signal from the AC HOT to the outputs DRB5 and DRB6 of each of the supplemental switching circuits 604a and 604b and their respective control inputs RB5 and RB6 are claimed. The drive signal is sent to the load capacitors C7 and C7A or the load capacitors C8 and C8A through the outputs DRB6 and DRB7, respectively.

The reason for providing the drive signal to the load capacitors C7 and C7A or the load capacitors C8 and C8A is now detailed. The inverter 502 of the drive signal generator 408 is load dependent and self-compensating (in a preferred embodiment, the inverter 502 is a "NS" series inverter provided by NEC), i.e., provided by the inverter 502. Inverter 502 includes a circuit such that the frequency of the sinusoidal drive signal is determined by the capacitance of the rod being driven at a particular location in the optical sequence (nominally, the EL cell or cell load is EL driver circuit 412). Is driven through one or more switching circuits selected to provide a drive signal. Also, the capacitance of the EL cell changes with the life of the EL cell. The inverter 502 detects a change in capacitance and adjusts the frequency of the generated drive signal so that the EL cell is irradiated with a relatively constant brightness even if its capacitance changes.

Since the capacitance load of an EL cell is determined by its size, the sinusoidal drive signal provided by the inverter 408 when the plurality of EL cells being driven in the sequence by the single inverter 502 are of different sizes, The frequency will vary depending on the size (and capacitance) of the EL cell (or combination thereof) being driven. As a result, if adjustment is not made at different loads represented by different combinations of EL cells, the brightness irradiated by each EL cell will vary widely compared with each other. This phenomenon is not visually noticeable.

However, by adding load capacitors C7, C7A or load capacitors C8, C8A to the capacitance load experienced by inverter 502, inverter 502 experiences a substantially constant capacitance load through the irradiation sequence. do. By maintaining a substantially constant capacitive load, the frequency of the sinusoidal drive signal provided by inverter 502 can be maintained substantially constant. As a result, the brightness with which the EL cells are illuminated during the sequence is maintained at each point in time in the light sequence. This allows the inverter 502 to “detect” and compensate for capacitance changes in each particular EL cell with lifetime.

The number of supplemental switching circuits and load capacitors, the capacitance values of the load capacitors, and the placement of the load capacitors required for the capacitive loads on the inverter 502 to be uniform may result in a desired percentage error of the change in brightness and the size of the EL cell being driven. Subordinate to The sequence of switching the supplemental switching circuitry to include the load capacitor in the load experienced by the inverter 408 may be included and scheduled in a continuous program executed by the microcontroller 406. That is, in addition to controlling the switching circuit in the EL driver circuit 412 to irradiate the EL cells, various (or combinations) of load capacitors to the load inverter 502 as a function in which one or more EL cells are revealed. The microcontroller 406 can be preprogrammed to control the supplemental switching circuitry to selectively trigger.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 4, the capacitors C8 and C8A together have an effective capacitance .01㎌ and the capacitors C7 and C7A together have an effective capacitance .022㎌. Therefore, four changes in load capacitance that can be obtained by selectively enabling DRVR #A and DRVR #B are shown below:

DRVR #A DRVR #B Total Additive Load

Disable Disable 0.0㎌

Enable Disable 0.01㎌

Disable Enable 0.022㎌

Enable Enable 0.032㎌

The actual values for the load capacitors and their configuration can be determined qualitatively (ie by qualitatively examining the illumination sequence obtained by experimenting with different values). However, preferably the surface area of the EL cell driven during the irradiation sequence can be qualitatively related to the equivalent capacitance. Memory (ie, ROM) may be provided. The table in memory includes a number of table entries, each table entry corresponding to a step of the lighting sequence, indicating a load capacitor switched on during the corresponding step of the sequence.

7 illustrates an embodiment of a microcontroller 406 and associated glue logic.

FIG. 8 shows that a short time (short time such as several microseconds) microcontroller 406 causes the first EL cell to turn on before the switching circuit corresponding to the second EL cell (referred to as "CELL # 2" in FIG. 8). Represents a phenomenon in which the switching circuit (i.e., one of 602a to 602i) corresponding to is turned off, and the sinusoidal drive signal generated by the inverter 502 is at its peak, and this drive signal is then abrupt in the capacitive load. Reduction and potential damage to one or both of inverter 502 and EL cell # 2 can cause spikes (400V and above).

9 shows how spikes in the drive signal can be avoided without the use of a zero-crossing detector 506. First, the switching circuit corresponding to CELL # 2 is turned on before the switching circuit corresponding to CELL # 1 is turned off. Before the switching circuit corresponding to CELL # 2 is turned on, the switching circuit (or circuits) corresponding to the load capacitor (or capacitor) is turned on. The large capacitive load on inverter 502 will prevent spikes from occurring when the switching circuit corresponding to CELL # 2 is turned on (i.e., 0 to 5 microseconds) after the switching circuit corresponding to the load capacitor is turned on. Finally, after sufficient time, the load on inverter 502 is passed to stabilize (ie, about 100 μs) and CELL # 1 is turned off.

Appendix A is a list source of assembly language code that is executed by the microcontroller 406 to execute a sequence.

In a fully integrated drive circuit, the microcontroller can control the intensity of the lamps and the chromaticity of the lamps as well as the switching on of each lamp. The microcontroller 406 can be used to generate animated displays on all sorts of primary, secondary, and three-dimensional light emitting objects. Examples of such objects are clothing, works of art, cast parts and information displays. For example, for apparel, full length luminescent yarns can be used for animated logos, designs or other accents.

A block diagram of another embodiment of the EL panel controller device is shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the microcontroller 1100 controls the chromaticity, intensity, and switching sequence of the plurality of EL lamps 1102. The EL driver 1106 supplies alternating current to the EL panel under the control of the microcontroller 1100. A plurality of solid state switches 1104 are connected to the EL panel 1102. I / O pins 1110 at levels 1 through n in the microcontroller 1100 output a control signal to the control line of the switching circuit 1104. The switching circuit 1104 controls the electrical energy of the circuit flowing through the EL driver 1106 and the EL panel 1102.

Control line 1108 may be added. If installed, the control line 1108 connects the microcontroller 1100 to the EL driver 1106. Through the control line 1108, the microcontroller 1100 controls the frequency and magnitude of the current output with the EL driver 1106. The frequency, duty cycle, and output intensity of the driver 1106 will determine the chromaticity and intensity of the individual EL lamps 1102.

A more detailed block diagram of the EL panel controller of FIG. 10 is shown in FIG.

Preferably, microcontroller 1100 is inexpensive and has a small amount of peripherals. Commercially available microcontrollers such as PTC16C55 or PIC16C57 from MICROCHIP can be used as the microcontroller 1100. But. Any suitable microcontroller or microprocessor may be substituted as appropriate.

The voltage regulator 1202 connects the battery to the microcontroller 1100 and adjusts the voltage from the battery to the required level to provide power to the microcontroller 1100. In this embodiment, the regulator 1202 supplies a voltage of 5.0 volts DC to the microcontroller 1100.

Timing circuits 1204, such as ceramic resonators or quartz (XTAL), resistors, and / or capacitors, are coupled to provide timing signals to the microcontroller 1100. A variant of this embodiment that incorporates an on-border timer in the microcontroller 1100 does not require a timing circuit.

Push button 1206 is coupled to the microcontroller to allow the user to control the functions of the microcontroller such as on / off, pattern selection, chromaticity and output timing adjustment.

The EL driver circuit 1106 is composed of an oscillator (or function generator) 1208, a power amplifier 1210, and a transformer 1212. Transformer 1210 connects oscillator 1208 and power amplifier 1210 to the output of EL driver circuit 1106 (FIG. 10). The power amplifier 1210 receives the output of the oscillator 1208. This signal is then amplified by power amplifier 1210 to drive the primary winding of transformer 1212. Oscillator 1208 supplies a sinusoidal, square or sawtooth wavelength, for example. The representative drive signal sent from transformer 1212 may be, for example, a sinusoidal signal having a frequency of 1000 Hz and an amplitude of 35 volts.

The shape and frequency of the output wavelength from the oscillator 1108 may be controlled by the microcontroller 1100 via the control line 1214. Similarly, amplification of the power amplifier 1210 may be controlled by the microcontroller 1100 via the control line 1216.

The frequency change of the drive signal for the EL lamp affects the chromaticity and intensity. Chromaticity swing from gray green or dark green to blue or purple is possible only by selection of the frequency and duty cycle of the drive signal. This corresponds to a shift of about 150 nm in the visible light spectrum.

The amplitude change of the drive signal affects the intensity. The sensed intensity can also be changed by adjusting the duty cycle (described below) of the switching signal.

The switching circuit 1104 connected and controlled to the I / O pin 1110 connects each EL panel 1102 to the EL driver 1106. The switching circuits 1104 each include a high voltage transistor 1218. The base of each transistor 1218 is connected to a resistor 1220 coupled to the microcontroller 1100. The emitter of each transistor 1218 is connected to the ground surface, and the selector of each transistor 1218 is connected to the diode bridge 1222. Each EL panel 1102 is connected between one of the diode bridges and one end of the secondary winding of the transformer 1212.

The switching circuits 1104 are paired for each EL panel controlled by the I / O pins of the microcontroller 1100. The number of circuits 1104 is limited by the number of available output pins on the microcontroller 1100, of course not all of the output pins are used.

In operation, the embodiments of Figs. 10 and 11 function as follows.

The microcontroller 1100 controls the switching circuit 1104 through the I / O pin 1110. A high output (" 1 ") on any I / O pin 1110 closes the switching circuit so that the EL driving current flows through the corresponding EL panel 1102 of the switch and illuminates the lamp. A low output ("0") on any of the I / O pins 1110 opens the switching circuit, causing the EL driving current to flow through the corresponding EL panel 1102 of the switch to turn off the switch. In particular, the high output " 1 " of FIG. 11 allows current to flow through resistor 1220, which turns on transistor 1218. FIG. This causes current to flow through the transistor 1218, diode bridge rectifier 1222, and EL panel 1102, thereby illuminating the EL panel. Similarly, low output ("0") disconnects the EL panel.

If the control line 1108 is installed, the microcontroller 1100 controls the frequency and amplitude of the drive voltage output by the EL driver circuit 1106. In this manner, the microcontroller 1100 controls the chromaticity and intensity of the EL panel output display.

Push button 1206 may be used to perform microcontroller on / off, pattern selection and timing. For example, the taping portion of the button will return after turning on the controller once for a predetermined time after the controller executes the sleep command. The second time pressing the push button 1206 before the end of the sequence instructs the display to be displayed continuously. The display light is used to emit the current state of the controller.

The microcontroller 1110 uses its I / O pins 1110 to control the state (ie, on or off) of each EL panel to output a sequence corresponding to a pre-programmed animation displayed on the EL panel. When the microcontroller outputs the next word in the animation sequence to its I / O pin, the EL panel changes to the state corresponding to the new pattern. In this manner, a pre-programmed sequence display is displayed on the EL panel.

Since each EL panel is coupled to the I / O pins of the microcontroller 1100, the complete state of the EL panel provides an output on each I / O pin 1110 with the microcontroller 1100 coupled to the EL panel. It is limited when positioning. Animation of the EL panel is achieved by continuously updating the state of the I / O pin 1110.

Two software schemes are used to time sequence the pattern of I / O pin 1110. The first scheme constitutes a coded word table, such as programming a portion of a microcontroller, and defines the state of all panels for each step in the sequence. For example, three sequence steps may be all panel on, all other panel on, all panel off. If fifteen EL panels were used, they are represented by the following table.

11111111 1111111

10101010 1010101

00000000 0000000

The microcontroller 1100 simply outputs the first line in the table to the I / O pins 1110 and turns on all of the EL panels. After waiting for a predetermined period of time, the microcontroller 1100 sends the next line in the table to the I / O pin 1110 to turn off all other EL panels. After another predetermined delay, the last line is transmitted and turns off all of the EL panels.

The second arrangement method initializes the state of the I / O pin 1110 to calculate the next state and the selected bit manipulation function based on the previous state. For example, the "chase" pattern can be executed by initializing the state of the I / O pin 1110 as follows:

10111111

Then execute the rotate write command on this port. The following output sequence is as follows:

11011111

The bit manipulation function may be any combination or continuous function executable by the microcontroller 1100. This approach has the potential advantage of saving memory space by reducing the table size required to maintain the required state.

A common problem with the prior art combined with EL lamps is that the lamps are driven for extended periods of time at high frequencies to heat the emitters and eventually burn them out. This heating problem can be mitigated by the present invention having a microcontroller that regularly turns off the hot EL panel or when the signal changes in amplitude when the EL panel is used for an extended period of time.

12A and 12D show pulse signals from microcontroller 1100 for controlling switching circuit 1104. These signals can be generated from the microcontroller 1100 as an auxiliary signal on the EL panel 1102 period or as an equivalent signal, and an external circuit can be used to amplitude change the signal from the microcontroller 1100.

The human eye has an unrecognizable memory by emitting a fast luminescence above about 60 Hz. Because of this, the signal frequency from I / O pin 1110 will not only vary in amplitude to at least 60 Hz, but also the illuminated EL panel will be turned on continuously.

12A shows a 50% duty cycle pulsed signal emitting at 60 Hz. During the “on” period, the high frequency signal from transformer 1212 (shown in FIG. 12B) passes through switching circuit 1104 controlled by pulse signal 12A. The obtained signal (shown in Fig. 12C) drives the EL panel 1102 and thus illuminates it. Although the EL panel can be driven at a high frequency from the driver 1106, if the pulse signal of Fig. 12A is low, only half of the time is actually driven because they are not driven. This sufficiently reduces the undesirable heating of the EL panel.

Since the pulse signal of FIG. 12A is generated by the microcontroller 1100, the duty cycle can be easily changed. The illumination of the 75% duty cycle pulse signal emitting at 60 Hz is shown in FIG. 12D. Changing the duty cycle of the pulse signal allows changing the sensed intensity of the emitted light once. For each complete period of the pulse signal of FIG. 12D, the drive signal 3/4 of FIG. 12B will be transmitted to the EL panel 1102 because three quarters of the time is on and one quarter of the time is off. Since the human eye is not completely linear to the duty cycle and sensed intensity, a 25% increase in duty cycle between FIGS. 12A and 12D will be perceived by the observer as about 25% less intensity increase or less.

The new EL panel controller device described above can be packaged in a small, light and completely integrated unit. In addition, dynamic control of chromaticity, intensity, sense intensity and heat dissipation for multilayer EL panels or filaments is possible, thus allowing a wide range of animation capabilities.

A block diagram of another embodiment of the EL panel controller device according to the present invention is shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the EL panel 1412 is connected to the high voltage driver 1410. Three EL panels are shown for ease of use. Also, instead of using three separate panels, a single panel divided into multiple sections can equally be used.

The microcontroller 1400 receives power from the voltage regulator 1404 connected to the battery 1406. The switch 1402 may be connected to the microcontroller 1406 and used for various microcontroller functions such as on / off, pattern control, timing control, and the like. The voltage regulator 1408 is a high voltage regulator for supplying power to the high voltage driver 1400. Typically, 200 volts is supplied to the driver 1400 although a sufficiently high or low voltage depends on the specific light emitting needs of the EL state in which it can be applied.

In operation, the microcontroller 1400 controls the illumination of the EL panel 1412 through the driver 1410 using an output enable (OE) line, a polarity line, and a clock line. The data line is preferably a single line that continuously loads data into a shift register embedded in the driver 1410. Many data lines can be used for applications requiring fast load times.

14 is a detailed block diagram of high voltage driver 1410. Driver 1410 includes a shift resist 1500. The shift register 1500 receives information from the data line in synchronization with the clock. Although not shown, other shift register input lines, such as register clear lines or shift register direction control lines, may be input from the microcontroller 1400 to the shift register 1500.

The data output from the shift register 155 is input to the logic circuit 1502. The input from the shift register 1500 based on the output enable signal, the polarity signal, and the logic circuit 1502 open or close the MOSFETS 1504 and 1506. Depending on the state of the MOSFETS, the EL panel 1412 will be illuminated by charging or discharging.

In operation, the microcontroller 1400 sends clock, polarity, and output enable signals to the logic circuit 1502 in the high voltage driver 1410. The clock and data signals are continuously input to the shift register 1500. The shift register 1500 is finally shifted to the third segment in synchronization with the clock signal from the first segment to the second segment. At any given time, microcontroller 1400 controls shift register 1500, data and clock signals such that only a signal " 1 " or ON bit is present in shift register 1500. One of three positions in the shift register 1500 corresponds to a potential ON state of its corresponding logic circuit 1502. In each clock pulse, "1" shifts down the shift register 1500. In this manner, the microcontroller 1400 can control the EL panel 1412 that is activated. A "0" or OFF bit corresponds to a potential OFF state in the corresponding logic circuit 1502. When in the OFF state, the logic circuit 1502 turns off the MOSFETS 1504 and 1506, and therefore there is a high impedance in its EL panel 1412.

The OE signal is a low active line. When this line is low, the logic circuit 1502 corresponding to "1" in the shift register 1500 charges or discharges its EL panel 1412 depending on the polarity signal. When the OE is high, all of the logic circuits 1502 control their corresponding MOSFETS 1504, 1506 such that the EL panel 1412 shows high impedance at the high voltage driver 1410. In this state, none of the panels 1412 are discharged or charged to a degree that can be sensed.

The polarity line is used to select the polarity of charge experienced by the selected panel 1412 (ie, the panel corresponding to "1" in the shift register). The EL panel 1412 only emits light when they withstand the charge in the potential. When a panel is selected as "1" in the shift register, output enable is enabled, which panel is charged if the polarity is high by turning off the MOSFET 1504 and the MOSFET 1506 or the polarity of the MOSFET 1504 It is discharged when it is low by turning off and turning on the MOSFET 1506. Since the EL panel 1412 stores charge input from a DC voltage source (such as a capacitor), the microcontroller 1400 preferably selects the polarity line between successive selections of the EL panel.

15 is a timing diagram illustrating the interaction of the clock, data, polarity and output capable signals. Timing delays t1 to t3 are indicated horizontally across the top of FIG. For delay t1, data signal " 1 " is preferably loaded into the first segment of shift register 1500 on the rising edge of the clock. Since the output enable signal is impossible, all of the MOSFETS 1504 and 1506 are turned off (high impedance state). At this point, the EL panel 1412 becomes virtually “visible”, which opens the circuit when locked into the driver 1410. This means that none of the EL panels 1412 have been discharged or charged.

At time delay t2, the data signal is low, so shift register 1500 shifts " 1 " in advance to the second segment. The output enable is again disabled, so both of the MOSFETS 1504 and 1506 are turned off.

At the beginning of t3, output enable is enabled. "1" in shift register 1500 turns on one of MOSFETS 1504, 1506, where the second segment is now latched into its logic circuit. The MOSFET to be turned on is determined by the polarity signal. In this embodiment, the polarity signal is raised corresponding to the MOSFET 1504 being turned on. This causes current to flow from the power supply to the intermediate EL panel, thereby charging and emitting light. Next time, the microcontroller will activate the middle EL panel to lower the polarity signal. This will turn off the MOSFET 1504 and turn on the MOSFET 1506 to allow current to flow from the EL panel to emit light.

The clock signal controls the frequency when the drive circuit 1410 is operated. Since the clock signal is controlled by the microcontroller 1400, its frequency and duty cycle can be easily changed by the software that controls the microcontroller. Representative operating frequencies are between 100 Hz and 2000 Hz. The frequency change of the clock signal affects the intensity and illumination chromaticity of the EL panel, which is similar to the embodiment of FIG.

By controlling the clock, data, polarity and output enable lines in the preprogrammed sequence, the microcontroller 1400 controls the EL panel chromaticity, intensity and state, thereby producing an animated visual display.

A block diagram of another embodiment of the EL panel controller device according to the present invention is shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the EL panel 1806 is connected to the high voltage driver 1800. The high voltage driver 1800 is located in a circuit similar to the high voltage driver 1410 shown in FIG. However, in this embodiment, data lines 1802a-1802n are input from microcontroller 1400 instead of OE, polarity, and clock in FIG. The solid state switching circuits 1804a to 1804n are controlled by the data lines 1802a to 1804n, respectively, and connect the EL panel 1806 to a high DC input voltage or ground surface.

In operation, a high ("1") value on data line 1802a causes solid state switching logic 1804 to connect its corresponding EL panel to a high DC voltage to charge the EL panel and emit light. When the microcontroller 1400 charges a low ("0") value on the data line 1802a, the solid state switching logic 1804a connects its corresponding EL panel to the ground surface, discharging it and emitting light. Do it.

Optionally, instead of having a microcontroller that independently controls both the charging and discharging of the EL panel 1806, the solid state switching circuits 1804a to 1804n so that the additional circuit detects the charging in the data control value from a low value to a high value. Can be installed in Charge is detected, and the solid state switching circuit automatically applies a high voltage to the EL panel 1806. This has the advantage that the operator does not need to program the microcontroller in advance because the selective charging and discharging of the EL panel is automatically executed by the switching circuits 1804a to 1804n.

16 shows a multiplexing circuit for simulating one EL panel by alternating current switching between two panels. The AC switch 1700 connects the EL panel 1702 which drives to supply power to one of the two EL panels. The switch 1700 periodically switches on between panels so that the panels are driven for an extended period of time. The switching action may be based on an external clock signal, an internal clock signal or a power signal according to a particular application. As described above, by multiplexing the drive signal between the two EL panels, the two panels are used to simulate one panel which drives the frequencies of both sides of the individual panels twice. At high driving frequencies, this has been found to sufficiently reduce EL panel heat generation and increase the life of the EL panel. This multiplexing arrangement can be employed in any of the embodiments described above.

The foregoing apparatus and methods include preferred embodiments of the present invention. However, various changes and modifications can be made by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. In a first embodiment, the microcontroller 1400 can be used to dynamically control the voltage regulator 1408. This can give the microcontroller better control of the overall EL panel illumination intensity. In a second embodiment, a conventional inverter can be used in place of the oscillator, power amplifier and transformer used in the embodiment of FIG. 10, and can provide an output stage capable of floating with respect to input power.

Appendix A

Claims (14)

An apparatus for controlling a plurality of EL display elements for generating a dynamic display, Microcontrollers; A power supply circuit for providing a drive signal; And A selection circuit connected to receive a plurality of signals from the microcontroller and to receive a drive signal from the power supply circuit, In the power supply circuit, the drive signal has a size and frequency suitable for driving the EL display element, and the selection circuit selectively transmits the drive signal to each of the EL display elements based on the signal received from the microcontroller, The microcontroller generates a dynamic display by turning on or off each of the display elements in sequence. The method of claim 1, And the magnitude and frequency of the drive signal radiated from the power supply circuit can be varied by changing the chromaticity and contrast of the light emitted by the EL display element. The method of claim 2, A magnitude and frequency of the drive signal is dynamically controlled by a microcontroller. The method of claim 1, In each of the EL display elements, the panel selection circuit includes a resistor to which a microcontroller is terminated; A transistor having a base, an emitter, and a collector; And whether to transmit a drive signal based on a circuit comprising a collector of a transistor and a diode bridge connected to each of the EL panels, And the transistor is connected to the other end of the resistor at the transistor base, to the power supply circuit at the collector end, and to a state in which the microcontroller allows current to flow through the resistor. The method of claim 1, The microcontroller is connected to a push button switch that allows a user to input a function to be performed by the microcontroller. The method of claim 1, Power supply circuit A function generator for generating a periodic signal; A power amplifier connected to the function generator for amplifying the periodic signal; And A control device comprising a transformer connected to the power amplifier. The method of claim 1, The EL display device is a control device characterized in that the EL filament. The method of claim 1, The EL display device is a control device characterized in that the EL panel. An apparatus for controlling an EL panel for generating a dynamic display, A power supply for supplying high voltage power; A microcontroller for supplying a timing signal, a data signal, and a polarity signal; And A driving circuit for synchronously manipulating timing signals and receiving data signals and polarity signals from a microcontroller, The driving circuit causes the EL panel to emit light if the polarity signal is high and the data signal is high by charging the EL panel from the power supply, and if the polarity signal is low and the data signal is high by discharging the EL panel, Make the EL panel emit light, The microcontroller controls the chromaticity of the EL panel by changing the frequency of the timing signal. The method of claim 9, A second EL panel and a multiplexer circuit, Based on the timing signal, the multiplexer selects one of the EL panel and the second EL panel so that the required light emission period of the EL panel and the second EL panel is increased. The method of claim 9, The microcontroller controls the chromaticity by varying the duty cycle of the timing signal. An apparatus for controlling an EL panel for generating a dynamic display, A power supply for supplying high voltage DC power; Voltage grounding; A microcontroller supplying a signal line for controlling an on / off state of the panel; And Connected to the power supply and panel, consisting of solid state switching logic for receiving signal lines from the microcontroller, alternatively charging the panel from the power supply and discharging the panel to voltage ground based on the signal lines, And the panel emits light during charge and discharge operations. In a retrofit EL lighting system for use in a host device, which produces a lighting effect in response to a lamp power signal provided from the host system and used to power a lamp of the host device, EL lamp system having a plurality of EL lamp cells; A sequential circuit for providing an EL lamp driving signal to independently control each of the EL lamp cells of the EL lamp system so that the EL lamp cells collectively illuminate in an order corresponding to the EL lamp driving signal; And A retrofit EL lighting system, characterized in that it comprises a signal conditioning circuit that non-invasively samples the lamp power signal provided from the host system. In a retrofit EL lighting system for use in a host device, which produces a lighting effect in response to a lamp power signal provided from the host system and used to power a lamp of the host device, EL lamp system having a plurality of EL lamp cells; A sequential circuit for providing an EL lamp driving signal to independently control each of the EL lamp cells of the EL lamp system so that the EL lamp cells collectively illuminate in an order corresponding to the EL lamp driving signal; And And a signal adjusting circuit for sampling the lamp power signal provided from the host system and providing the EL lamp drive signal in response thereto.